Motor vehicle steering columns are commonly mounted on a body of the vehicle for up and down pivotal movement to adjust the vertical position of a steering wheel on the steering column. A typical clamp for capturing an adjusted position of the steering column includes a bracket on the body having planar sides on opposite sides of the steering column, vertical slots in the planar sides of the bracket, and a bolt traversing the bracket through the vertical slots. With either the nut or the bolt rotatably immobilized relative to the bracket, rotation of the other, i.e., the "rotatable element", in opposite directions frictionally clamps the planar sides of the bracket against and releases the planar sides of the bracket from the steering column. For manual operation, a steel operating lever is coupled to the rotatable element of the clamp for unitary rotation with the rotatable element. A predetermined locked position of the steel operating lever is established by pressing an aperture in the steel lever over a serrated cylindrical boss on the rotatable element after the rotatable element is rotated to a position in which the steering column is frictionally clamped between the planar sides of the bracket. In such constructions, a retainer fastened to the rotatable element over the lever positively prevents dislodgment of the lever from the rotatable element. In another known construction, the rotatable element has a frustoconical shoulder thereon which is thrust into a frustoconical cavity in the steel lever to frictionally couple the steel lever to the rotatable element.